Page 28 - issue-27

Business profile
Guest Truck and Van – more
than 100 years of super service
The Guest story began at the turn of the last century when Frank Guest started
a business in 1902 repairing bicycles
in West Bromwich, progressing quickly into manufacturing motorcycles, which he and his wife sold, along with sports goods and fireworks from a shop in West Bromwich High Street.
It was then in 1915 that a Ford Motor Company franchise for motor cars and tractors became available. Frank seized the opportunity, but it was also during the First World War, so they also became involved with the manufacture of gun and tank parts.
After the war in 1920, Ford encouraged
its dealers to concentrate on the growing opportunities the market presented – and this is exactly what the business did, focusing all its energies on this, with business prospering on the back of the ‘Model T’. Frank and his wife Mary Jane had two sons, Richard, who joined the business in the early 1920s in Sales Administration and Frank Junior, who joined later that decade on the Service side.
During World War Two, the business once
again came to support our country by servicing wartime products and by stripping down aircraft. Frank died in 1942, leaving his sons to run the company, initially struggling in the post war era, but on the back of new Ford cars things started to improve by the 1950s.
The third generation of the family, Peter Guest, joined the company in 1957, working under the watchful eye of his father Richard. The following year Peter took over the running of the business, embarking on expansion into commercial vehicles, along with tyres, and changing the name of the business from Frank Guest Limited to the Guest Motors Limited that we know today.
The firm’s founder Frank Guest
Core to the ‘Guest Customer’ philosophy at all of its operations is customer service
Many changes
Following many changes in the business, including the merger of Iveco and Ford, to form Iveco Ford Truck, the company became the responsibility of Ian Guest, the fourth generation continuing at the helm today.
Under Ian’s leadership, in 1992 the opportunity to expand into the truck business came with
the company opening a purpose- built truck facility in West Bromwich and a new tyre fitting facility in Great Bridge. Then opening sites in Wolverhampton in 1994 and subsequently in Birmingham in 1998.Ford cars had been in
the veins of the business for nearly 85 years when the time came to part company, with the business on West Bromwich High Street being sold. The new century saw a change of direction for the company with Guest establishing a stronger relationship with the Fiat Group, growing from Iveco business.
Move to Coventry
In 2002 Guest took the opportunity to move down the M6 to Coventry and also to open as a Fiat Commercial Vehicle dealer, one of the first in Europe to do this alongside Iveco, something that is now commonplace.
Guest also took over the Alfa Romeo dealership in Knowle, further developing this new business by opening in Willenhall in 2008, initially as Alfa Romeo only, expanding into Fiat then Jeep and Abarth over recent years.
Embracing the truck business, the company saw the accessory business as a growth area, purchasing Vehicle Lining Services, to become an integral a part of what they do.
In 2009 Iveco decided to streamline their network and Guest increased their Iveco operation, initially opening branches in Leicester in 2010, then Peterborough, Boston and Cambridge the same year.
Sherwood joins the group
In 2011 they took over Sherwood Truck and Van, bringing them into the Guest Group with further changes the same year, opening in Norwich, with a brief adventure into Ipswich and the sale of the car business in Knowle in 2012, leaving the company where it is today, having grown from a small family company into the UK’s largest Iveco Dealer Group & Fiat Van Dealer. The Guest commercial vehicle operations
now includes the Guest Truck and Van and Sherwood Truck and Van brands. These include dedicated commercial vehicle centres for throughout the Midlands, South Yorkshire and East Anglia representing Iveco and Fiat Professional.
There’s also Guest Tyre & Auto Centre, Guest and Sherwood Bodyshops and Vehicle Lining Services, an accessory and aftermarket products centre for commercial vehicles.
In addition to this, Guest represents Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Jeep car brands near Wolverhampton, offering new and used cars, service and parts.
Core to the ‘Guest Customer’ philosophy at all of its operations is customer service. A spokesman said: “Whether you run one or 1,000 vehicles
we truly value your custom and welcome any opportunity to assist you with your vehicle needs and requirements.”
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